A chilling wave of abductions and forced religious conversions targeting Hindu minors has rocked Pakistan’s Sindh province, with reports emerging on June 19, 2025, of four Hindu children, three girls and one boy, being kidnapped and coerced into converting to Islam in Shahdadpur.
The victims, identified as Jiya (22), Diya (20), Disha (16), and Ganesh (13), were abducted from their homes and subjected to religious conversion, as evidenced by videos circulating on social media that claim to depict their conversion ceremonies.
This incident follows closely on the heels of another reported case in March 2025, involving the abduction and forced conversion of a 13-year-old Hindu girl, Najo Kohli, highlighting a troubling pattern of violence and coercion targeting Pakistan’s Hindu minority.
Shahdadpur Abductions
On June 19, 2025, reports surfaced that four Hindu children from Shahdadpur, a town in Sindh’s Sanghar district, were abducted from their homes under circumstances that remain shrouded in fear and uncertainty.
The victims, Jiya, Diya, Disha, and Ganesh, include three minors.
Three minor Hindu girls and a minor boy were abducted from Shahdadpur. It has been reported that the children were converted to Islam, as videos circulating on social media claim their conversion. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/JqbLE8qQWx
— The Rise News (@Therisenews_) June 19, 2025
According to local sources, the abductions were followed by forced conversions to Islam, with social media videos purportedly showing the children’s parents claiming the same. These videos, which have sparked outrage among human rights activists and the Hindu community, have yet to be independently verified but have fueled concerns about the safety of religious minorities in Pakistan.
Efforts to seek justice have been met with resistance, as local authorities have been slow to respond, leaving families to grapple with their grief and uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones.
The case of Najo Kohli
The Shahdadpur abductions come just months after the high-profile case of Najo Kohli, a 13-year-old Hindu girl abducted from her home in Sindh on February 6, 2025. Najo, the eldest daughter of Asan Kohli, a father of five, was taken in the dead of night by four armed men who stormed into the family’s home.
According to Asan Kohli, quoted in The Rise News, the assailants held guns to his and his wife’s heads, threatening their lives if they resisted. Powerless to intervene, the family watched as Najo was taken away in a white car.
The following day, Asan Kohli was informed by local police that his daughter had been converted to Islam and married to a Muslim man named Lalo. When he attempted to file a First Information Report (FIR) at the local police station, authorities refused to register the case, citing Najo’s alleged conversion and marriage.
“They told me, ‘Your daughter is now Muslim and married,’ and ordered me to leave,” Kohli recounted.
Official documents, including Najo’s birth certificate and school records, confirm that she was born on February 3, 2012, making her 13 years old at the time of her abduction, a clear violation of Pakistan’s child protection laws.
For over a month, Asan Kohli held onto false promises from local influential figures who assured him they would help secure his daughter’s return. However, these assurances proved empty, and it was only after significant pressure that the police registered an FIR on March 19, 2025, under the Child Restraint Act, naming four suspects.
As of June 20, 2025, only one of the four accused has been arrested, and Najo’s whereabouts remain unknown. “I don’t know if my daughter is alive or what they’ve done to her,” Kohli said, his voice breaking. “I beg the government to bring her back.”
A broader pattern of coercion
The abductions in Shahdadpur and the case of Najo Kohli are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of forced conversions targeting Pakistan’s Hindu minority, particularly in Sindh, where the majority of the country’s Hindu population resides.
Human rights organisations have long documented cases of Hindu girls and women being abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married to Muslim men, often under duress. These incidents are frequently accompanied by police inaction, societal indifference, and the complicity of local power structures.
The circulating social media videos claiming abduction of Jiya, Diya, Disha, and Ganesh have further inflamed tensions.
Historical context and ongoing debates
The recent abductions have reignited debates about the historical narrative surrounding religious conversions in South Asia. Some historians have argued that conversions to Islam under historical Islamist regimes were driven by a desire to escape caste oppression within Hindu society.
However, cases like those in Shahdadpur and Najo Kohli’s abduction challenge this narrative, pointing to a history of coercion and violence that continues to play out in modern times.
A call for action
The abductions in Shahdadpur and the case of Najo Kohli have sparked outrage among Pakistan’s Hindu community and human rights organisations, who are calling for immediate government action. Advocates are urging authorities to investigate the abductions, ensure the safe return of the victims, and hold perpetrators accountable. They are also demanding reforms to address the systemic issues that allow such incidents to persist, including police inaction and judicial leniency.
Asan Kohli, still waiting for news of his daughter, echoed this sentiment. “All I want is my daughter back,” he said. “She’s just a child. How can this be justice?”
As the Hindu community in Sindh grapples with fear and grief, the cases of Jiya, Diya, Disha, Ganesh, and Najo Kohli serve as a stark reminder of the challenges faced by religious minorities in Pakistan. With global attention now turning to these incidents, pressure is mounting on the Pakistani government to address this crisis and uphold the rights of all its citizens.
